Introduction

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA) provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Federal funds are currently allocated through four statutory formulas that are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state.
from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html, Click Here to continue reading

NEWS

2015-16 Title I PreK Incentive Grant
The 2015-16 FIN 412C application is now available on SERVS. Districts that received these funds for the 2014-15 school year are eligible to apply

Purpose

The purpose of this page is to provide Title I resources and/or guidance to districts. It is recommended that your Title I work be tied to broader initiatives (e.g. PreK-3rd Grade work, World's Best Workforce).

This page contains information and resources that will help guide your work.

Definitions

Title I Preschool Program
A Title I preschool program is a preschool program for which an LEA or school uses Title I funds, in whole or in part, to improve cognitive, health, and social-emotional outcomes for eligible children below the grade at which an LEA provides a free public elementary education (ESEA section 1115(b)(1)(A)(ii); 34 C.F.R. § 77.1).
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Districtwide Title I Preschool Program
An LEA may reserve a portion of funds off the top of its Title I allocation to operate a preschool program for eligible children. The LEA may serve all eligible children in the district as a whole or those in just a portion of the district.

The district as a whole: An LEA may serve preschool children who reside throughout the LEA and whom the LEA identifies as eligible because they are at risk of failing to meet the State’s academic achievement standards when they reach school age. An LEA may not use Title I funds to implement a districtwide preschool program to benefit all preschool students in the LEA unless all the schools in the LEA are Title I schools operating schoolwide programs.

A portion of the district: An LEA may serve preschool children who reside in specific Title I school attendance areas. If, for example, an LEA does not have sufficient Title I funds to operate a preschool program for the district as a whole, the LEA may decide to serve only eligible children who reside in Title I participating school attendance areas.

School-Operated Title I Preschool Program
The manner in which a Title I school would operate its preschool program would depend on the type of Title I school — i.e., a schoolwide program school or a targeted assistance school.

Schoolwide program school: A Title I school may operate a schoolwide program if a minimum of 40 percent of the students enrolled in the school, or residing in the attendance area served by the school, are from low-income families (ESEA section 1114(a)(1)).

Targeted assistance program school: A Title I school that is ineligible to operate, or has chosen not to operate, a schoolwide program may operate a targeted assistance program in which the school provides supplemental educational services to students with the greatest need for assistance — i.e., those identified as failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the State’s academic achievement standards (ESEA section 1115(b)(1)(B)).

Preschool-Age Child
A preschool-age child is one who is below the grade at which an LEA provides a free public elementary education (ESEA section 1115(b)(1)(A)(ii); 34 C.F.R. § 77.1). For the purpose of Title I, children from birth to the age that the LEA provides a free public elementary education may receive preschool services.

Discussion & District Sharing

How does your school district use Title I funds to support early childhood?

Federal Guidance

Documents

Serving Preschool Children Under Title IClick Here from the U.S. Department of EducationClick Here revised 2012, from the U.S. Department of Education

Finance/Funding

Guidance

Blending and Braiding Early Childhood Program Funding Streams Toolkit: Enhancing Financing for High-Quality Early Learning ProgramsClick Here, from the Ounce of Prevention

Financing Early Care and Education: Annotated Bibliography of ResourcesClick Here, from CEELO (Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes)

Using Title I to Finance Early Childhood Programs: Lessons from States and DistrictsClick Here from CLASP

Head Start Performance Standards

A Title I preschool program that provides services to children from low-income families must ensure that those services comply at a minimum with the education performance standards in effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act (ESEA section 1112(c)(1)(G)) (available at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/law).

Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge: PreK Title I Incentive Toolkit

Introduction

Minnesota received a federal Early Learning Challenge (ELC) grant of $45 million for 2012-2015 to improve the readiness for kindergarten of children with high needs and build capacity and accountability into our early learning system. The grant targets direct services to children ages birth through age five – those living below 200 percent of Federal Poverty Guidelines (142,553 children statewide) – and quality improvement supports to programs serving these children. A key strategy in the Minnesota plan is to increase access for this population of children and their families to high-quality early learning and development programs (ELD).
Implementation of the plan will focus first on four high-need communities, or “Transformation Zones” – White Earth Reservation, Itasca County, Saint Paul’s Promise Neighborhood, and Minneapolis’ Northside Achievement Zone – using and evaluating best practices that can then be replicated and implemented in communities throughout the state.

Goals

Description
The goal of the ELC PreK Title I Incentive is to encourage school districts to allocate a portion of their Title I funds to support high-quality Early Learning and Development (ELD) programs and increase their support and involvement of early childhood programs. The ELC Title I PreK Incentive provides districts with additional resources that allow them to increase the quality of their early childhood programs while also increasing access - thereby preparing children for greater success in school.

ELC Title I PreK Incentive Program Goals

School districts in the four Transformation Zones intending to use the ELC Title I PreK Incentive will commit to becoming three or four star rated in the Parent Aware / Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS).

The number of children with high needs who attend high-quality ELD programs will increase in each Transformation Zone.

School district financial investment and support of early childhood programs will increase.

Districts will work to align PreK-3 systems across the district and community.

Districts will track the progress of preschoolers through kindergarten and beyond.

Districts will evaluate and report on the effectiveness of their Title I PreK Incentive – Early Childhood plan.

District Investment

In order to receive the ELC Title I PreK Incentive, school districts must commit a certain amount of their current Title I dollars (or additional Title I funding, in cases where districts already operate ELD Programs using Title I) toward supporting Early Childhood Education / PreK (District Investment dollars). Once the commitment is made the district will receive a 1:1 funding incentive to add to their investment dollars. Technical assistance to help district develop high-quality ELD programs will be provided by Department of Education staff, local Head Start agencies, child care resource and referral agencies and experienced district staff.

Planning

Key Steps in Maximizing the Use of Title I Funds for Planning, Implementing and Evaluating High-Quality ELD Programs

1. Determine how the district is currently using Title I funds and if it is making a difference in student achievement.

An essential first step is to determine how districts are currently using Title I funds and how effective Title I is in improving student achievement in your district. District staff should take steps to determine the effectiveness of Title I funded programs in order to identify the specific programs and strategies that are (and are not) producing the needed academic achievement for students. It is helpful to conduct an annual “needs assessment” for use of Title I funds in order to inform future allocation of Title I finding to programs and strategies that produce desired outcomes. Various resources currently exist to assist districts with the process of assessing needs and allocating funds based upon district goals and priorities. Go to Finance/Funding or Resources & Links in the set of tabs above for examples.
The resources from CLASP, Using Title I to Finance Early Childhood Programs: Lessons from States and Districts and PreK Now are good places to start. Go to Title I Examples in the set of tabs above for school district examples.

2. Determine how the district is currently funding Early Learning and Development (ELD) programs by identifying all funding streams used to support early learning in your district.

This important step establishes a district baseline of early learning expenditures for this first year of the ELC grant. This information will allow districts to track new spending and allow for planning and sustainability. *Please note you are only allowed to use current Title I funding as your district Investment.
State and federal funding available to support the implementation of ELD programs include:

State

Federal

General Education Revenue

School Improvement Grant (SIG)

Literacy Incentive Aid

Title I Part A

ECFE

Head Start

Head Start

Title II, Part A

Taconite Revenue

Migrant Education Program

Professional Development

Special Ed. Part C and Special Ed. Part B 619

Compensatory Revenue

Special Ed. Coordinated Early Intervening Service Funds

Integration Aid

Special Ed. Funds for State Personnel Development Grant

3. Determine ELD program services within your district’s boundaries.

The next step is to inventory the ELD programs (public and private) that already exist within the district boundaries. This identifies where and how children are presently being served throughout the district prior to kindergarten. Gathering this type of information will yield insights regarding which programs are most prevalent within the district and the identification of organizations, other than the district, that provide ELD programs. In addition, this process will specify the existing ELD programs in the neighborhoods of the schools funded by Title I in order to better understand how children who live in the district’s high poverty school neighborhoods are served (or not served) prior to kindergarten. It will be useful to know how many children in each of the Title I school neighborhoods are served by each program and how this number compares to the number of kindergarten children in those Title I schools.

If you are already using Title I funds for services to children before they enter kindergarten, the quality of the services should be examined to determine what is working and what needs to be improved. District staff needs to know if the children with greatest needs in the highest poverty Title I school neighborhoods are being served and if present services need to be expanded or improved. If school districts intend to use the Title I PreK Incentive to support school-based PreK programs they must commit to the program becoming Four-Star rated through Parent Aware approval process. Districts should review special education and English Language Learner services when assessing the types of ELD programs that are currently operating within the district boundaries. Valuable information will be gained by using the lens of the continuum of services and supports offered through IDEA (Parts B and C) and Title II Part A to examine local service delivery.

Resources available to assist you in analyzing ELD services in your district include:

Identify a core group of early learning community and district stakeholders to form a District Leadership and Implementation Team to guide and facilitate the work.

Engaging key district and community stakeholders builds support and gathers constructive feedback that informs your PreK-3rd planning and implementation efforts. The decision making process to intentionally support high-quality early learning and development (ELD) programs across the age three to grade three continuum should involve a range of staff and stakeholder groups – superintendent and school board members, principal, teachers, early learning program coordinators/staff, Head Start staff, community/business leaders, and family member/parents. Gathering the input of each group helps to provide broad-based support for designing and implementing a comprehensive PreK-3rd approach that meet the needs of the children in the district and the community.

Necessary Components

The creation of preschool classes using Title I funds must address the needs of children with disabilities and/or English language learners. The use of Title I funds need to be considered in the context of special education services and support currently offered under IDEA. Important considerations include the establishment of a referral process for special education services and full-inclusion opportunities to ensure that children are served in the least restrictive environment.
The following list comprises the components that need to be included as part of the district’s plan to begin an ELD program that utilizes Title I funds. The planning and development process will be a key function of the District Leadership and Implementation Team.

Facilities

Eligibility

Teachers and paraprofessionals

Professional Development

Parent/family and community engagement

Standards

Curriculum and assessments

Accountability

Parent Aware rating

General Considerations for Each Component

Facilities
Facilities are the first important step districts need to take in creating a new ELD program. Please note that Title I funds cannot be used for construction of facilities.

Facilities, including portables must meet all state licensing requirements

Unused classrooms may be used for ELD with certain required modifications (Title I funds may be used to meet licensing requirements)

ELD programs are usually half-day program, so two classes can share a room. Through inclusion efforts, classrooms can be shared through team teaching and collaboration with general education and special education staff.

The ELD facility that is operated by the school district must be on school property.

Leasing a portable building is allowed under Title I.

If there is no daytime space available, a program that operates after the regular school day could be considered. A kindergarten classroom could be used for ELD. Other activities could take place at the same time such as Adult Education classes, supplementary education services and tutoring for other grades.

In the complete absence of facilities, a home visitor program may be effective; it can be supplemented by Saturday morning classes.

Eligibility
Eligibility of children to be served is an important part of the planning. Children who live in the attendance area of a Title I school are eligible for the Title I school that has the largest percentage of low-income parents should be the highest priority for an ELD program.

If the school is a school-wide program, all children are eligible.

If the school is a targeted-assistance program, criteria need to be created based on what is used in kindergarten and higher grades to determine who can be served.

Children from the identified Title I school neighborhood are eligible to attend the ELD program even if the parents choose to send them to another school, including a non-public school, when they enter kindergarten.

If the ELD program is multi-funded (for example, Head Start and Title I), children from other school attendance areas could attend if their parents meet the stringent Head Start income requirements. For example, if the program is funded 50 percent from each program, half of the children could be from the Title I attendance area of the school and the other half would have to be income eligible for Head Start.

Teachers and paraprofessionals

If this is a new program starting out, it is necessary to consider the ESEA and future Head Start requirements for highly qualified staff.

Teachers in Title I Preschool programs must meet the same requirements as teachers in School Readiness programs.

It is highly advisable that a close working relationship is developed between the kindergarten and ELD teachers – both at the district level and at the school level.

Comparisons of ELD salaries with those of K-3 teachers should be made, and if the requirements are similar, the salaries should be as well. There is a general movement toward higher levels of college training including a bachelor’s degree for teachers.

Professional Development
Professional development to support quality teaching is essential and must promote articulation between ELD and kindergarten teachers

Resources must be allocated for teachers to participate in staff development. These resources include release time, instructional materials, and other professional development resources that can be accessed and/or available on-line.

Teachers and paraprofessionals should participate in ongoing professional development offered through the district and community in person and/or on-line.

Parents and Community Stakeholders
Parents and key community stakeholders must be involved from the beginning in the development of an ELD program, and district leaders need to reach out to the parents and involve them in their children’s education.

Staff members should be assigned to make home visits with these visits being at least once every three months.

Head Start and School Readiness programs require parent meetings/input on a regular basis, which could be considered for Title I

Parents should have opportunities to volunteer in the classroom or in other meaningful ways.

Teachers should reach out to parents to insure that the home environment supports the learning that takes place within the classroom.

Teachers and teacher assistants should receive professional training on how to work effectively in a culturally sensitive manner with parents and children.

Standards
Standards for ELD, referred to as the Early Childhood Indicators of Progress: Minnesota’s Early Learning Guidelines (ECIPs). These standards, available on the MDE website, describe the knowledge and skills that children should be able to know and do prior to entering kindergarten. These standards are aligned with the state’s kindergarten content standards and support social-emotional development. An alignment with the kindergarten standards is also located on the MDE website.

Curriculum and assessments that are comprehensive, aligned, individualized, and developmentally appropriate will support a high-quality learning program.

It is important to note that ELD programs funded by Title I must comply with new standards established under section 641A(a) of the Head Start Act. View the Education and Early Childhood regulations at 45 CFR 1304.21 – Education and Early Childhood.

Connections between ELD and kindergarten for staff and parents should be established throughout the school setting. Time to meet should be incorporated into the planning process to support implementation at specific points during the year.

An aligned comprehensive approach to teaching and learning, including curriculum, daily schedule, assessment and goals should be articulated between ELD and kindergarten to facilitate a smooth transition.

Guidelines for social development must be consistent with school expectations, using positive behavior supports throughout the school.

Regular screenings, ongoing observations, and assessments of progress are particularly critical for children with special needs and those who are English language learners.

Accountability
Accountability is essential to the success of ELD programs so that children achieve both short- range (ready for kindergarten) and long-range (state test scores in grades 3, 6, 8 and graduation from high school) outcomes. This is an important piece of an ELD program, and it can take a variety of shapes and forms.

An efficient child progress tracking system must be established. School districts have systems in place but they usually begin with kindergarten. The system needs to be adjusted so that children can be followed from the time that they begin the district ELD program through high school graduation.

A health and developmental screening must be conducted when children enter ELD.

Children’s progress must be monitored and assessed at the end of the year prior to kindergarten

Four-Star Parent Aware Rated
Parent Aware is Minnesota’s quality rating and improvement system, designed to support and improve the quality in early childhood programs and inform parents about that quality. In order for a district to access ELC Title I Incentives, the district program must commit to becoming rated through Parent Aware. School district programs applying for a rating will need to satisfy requirements for curriculum, assessment and teacher training.

For further information and to apply and receive a rating, please contact Jessica Mattson at su.nm.etats|nosttam.acisseJ#su.nm.etats|nosttam.acisseJ

Implementation

District-Community Leadership and Implementation Team & School-based Leadership Team
The first key step in implementing the PreK-3rd framework is to establish a District-Community Leadership and Implementation Team (DCLIT) with explicit responsibility for guiding PreK-3rd efforts. The role of this team will be to formalize connections among partners, prioritize PreK-3rd Grade reform efforts and to ensure sustainable implementation.
Key district and community stakeholders include:

Implementation of Title I Funded ELD Programs: Two Common Approaches

Approach 1: Improve, Connect and/or Expand Existing Programs
The simplest way to begin using Title I funds for ELD programs is to focus on improving quality through joint training and professional development of ELD program staff on various topics. Such as:

Effective instructional strategies

Parent involvement/education

Teaming and collaboration

Aligning curriculum and assessments

Using peer supports

Differentiated instruction

Inclusion

Positive behavior supports

Improving quality should focus on finding ways for key personnel from all the programs to work together and share their skills and knowledge.

Title I funding can be integrated and connected with a variety of existing programs and in some cases, to community-based programs to expand the availability of high-quality programs for children. There are many ways to utilize multiple funding sources, and all of them need to be explored to maximize the services for children. While direct services to children can be maximized by combining Title I funds with funds from other programs, care must be taken that the fiscal and reporting requirement of each program are met as each program has its own specific rules and compliance issues which must be followed. One such compliance issue that is common is the supplement not supplant requirement for Title I Part A.

In addition, services for preschool children who have disabilities and/or are learning English need to be considered in making these connections, and district staff members who work with special education and English language learners should be involved in the planning.

Districts that already have ELD programs that are funded with Title I or other district funds may consider serving more children by expanding and creating more classes or spaces. Often, this can be accomplished relatively quickly and easily, because an infrastructure exists that is needed to support the development and implementation of the several components required to operate a high-quality and effective ELD program.

Approach 2: Create New ELD Programs
The ELC Title I PreK Incentive Program is an opportunity for districts to implement an innovative, long-range approach by using Title I funds to create new ELD programs in your district. The use of Title I funds provides districts with the greatest flexibility to develop programs to meet the needs of the district and the community. We encourage districts to consider using Title I funds for the creation of new ELD programs as well as collaborating with those that already in exist through Head Start, state or special education.

Data & Evaluation

Data Collection
What educational data is being collected to measure impact of children attending high-quality early learning programs? Other types? (Demographic; Health and Mental Health; Economic; Housing; Crime; Family Issues)

How are data being transferred once child leaves the PreK setting and enters the elementary setting?

How are teachers using data to make learning decisions?

How is data being used to determine needed professional development for PreK-3rd grade educators?

How are parents being informed of the data collection and how it impacts their child?